Assassin's Creed II: Difference between revisions

** On the Templar side, we've got: Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, J.P. Morgan, Oppenheimer, Tsar Nicolas, Rasputin, [[George Washington]], [[Adolf Hitler]] ''and'' [[Franklin D. Roosevelt|FDR]] ''and'' [[Winston Churchill]], Lee Harvey Oswald, [[The Pope|Rodrigo Borgia (aka Pope Alexander VI)]], the Pazzi family. Oh, and lest we forget, you know who the ''first'' Templar was? ''Cain''. That's about as ancient as an ancient conspiracy gets.

** On the Assassin side we've got: [[Divine Comedy|Dante Alighieri]], [[The Prince|Niccolò Machiavelli]], possibly Gandhi and [[Joan of Arc]]. ''Brotherhood'' indicates that Brutus and the forty Senators who killed Caesar were also Assassins, which means that Altair's musings on the possibility of the Assassin Order predating Mu'alim are true: the Assassin Order has evidently been around for at ''least'' two millenia, probably much, much longer. [[Nikola Tesla]] wasn't an Assassin himself, but after the Templars had ruined him the Assassins contacted him to recommend that he assist in [[The Tunguska Event|Tunguska]]. Marco Polo either was an Assassin or was associated with them, and the same holds true for Kublai Khan.

** Also, a number of major historical events, such as {{spoiler|the Moon landing, [[Who Shot JFK?|the assassination of JFK]], the first nuclear detonations, and THE MURDER OF JESUS}} were done either because of or to acquire Pieces of Eden.

*** [[The Tunguska Event]], on the other hand, was an attempt to {{spoiler|destroy a Piece of Eden by Nikola Tesla. It failed.}}

** Also oddly Inverted. Acquiring the Armor of Altaïr makes Ezio unable to change his appearance by dying his clothes, so Your Reward is Fewer Clothes unless you want to deliberately reduce your health bar and continue paying for repairs.

* [[And Your Reward Is Interior Decorating]]: The house in Monteriggioni becomes decorated with portraits of Ezio's assassination victims and with art objects that Ezio is encouraged to purchase. The appearance of the rest of Monteriggioni also improves as Ezio's actions cause the town to become more prosperous.

** Both games have a thing for birds. Both protagonists are named after them, the presence of birds marks important/useful spots in the world, and bird feathers play a prominent background role in both games. Also, both Ezio's and Altaïr's assassin's garbs feature a beak-like peak in the front of the hood and a wing-like split in the back of the lower 'cape', thus emulating birds, especially when diving off of rooftops.

** The art book for the first one explicitly compares Altaïr to a bird-of-prey, saying that it was a big part of the inspiration for the character's design. Side-by-side art pieces show artists emulating the shape of an eagle mid-flight with Altaïr.

* [[Badass Creed]]: The Assassin order adopted the creed of "Nothing is true. Everything is permitted" when Altair took over as the order's Grand Master. While seemingly simple, the Codex reveals that many recruits [[Go Mad From the Revelation|could not deal with the wide-reaching implications of the creed when they finally started to realize exactly what it meant]].

* [[Beethoven Was an Alien Spy]]: According to the glyph puzzles, almost every prominent historical figure, from Thomas Edison to [[Adolf Hitler]], were far more than they seemed to be.

* [[Big Fancy House]]: Villa Auditore, the mansion that Ezio uses as his base of operations for most of the game, actually becomes fancier over time as he earns enough money to restore the surrounding town into a thriving economy.

** You can explore the Palazzo di Medici using the "Templar Locations" variant of the Bonfires of the Vanity DLC; it's pretty damn impressive too (though it's a little bit messy since you visit it during a Templar attack).

** As of Recently, this has been removed, allowing one to play offline without a connection.

* [[Easter Egg]]: There's a {{spoiler|Giant Squid}} in the Assassin tomb under Santa Maria della Visitazione. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLOiBZy1ta0&feature=related Here's] a [[YouTube]] video showing how to see it.

* [[Eleventh-Hour Superpower]]: {{spoiler|1=In a [[Shout-Out]] to AC1's final battle, Ezio's learned a few tricks from that Golden Apple, too.}}

* [[Elite Mooks]]: Brutes, Agiles and Seekers.

* [[Internal Homage]]: In Bonfire of the Vanities you have to kill nine subordinates of the current villain {{spoiler|who has the Apple}} before you can vanquish him. Sound familiar?

* [[In the Back]]: If Ezio attacks an enemy from behind while the enemy fighting another opponent, he instantly kills them, usually by grabbing them and cutting their throats, running them through, or by playing Whack-A-Mole with their skulls using a hammer. In fact, the main use of the mercenaries is to provide said distractions.

* [[In the Past Everyone Will Be Famous]]: Taken [[Up to Eleven]]. Seriously. Ezio can't go for more than ten minutes without coming face-to-face with some important historical figure.

* [[In Universe Game Clock]]: Includes a day/night cycle which affects things like guards' shift positions. On a more literal note, the game ''slips'' surprisingly quickly from 1476 to 1499.

** There's also the aforementioned conversation with Rebecca where Desmond notes his appreciation for the subtitles - the first game lacked subtitles completely.

** And there's a mission where Ezio has to assassinate his target, who is in a monastery filled with his personal guards, who are disguised as monks. The name of the mission is "the cowl does not make the monk". Gee, I wonder what ''that'''s a reference to?

{{quote|'''Civilian''': ''(Ezio kills a nearby guard)'' The Lord is my shepherd! '''THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD!!!'''}}

** Bartolomeo. Seriously, just listen to his increasingly gruesome and hilarious rants while locked up in the jail cell.

* [[Lost in a Crowd]]: Ezio being able to hide in ''any'' sufficiently large crowd of people (sufficiently large being about 4 or so). In place of the priests ("Scholars") from ''AC'', Ezio can hire some... Courtesans to follow him as a mobile safepoint directed by him. People not noticing Ezio in that particular crowd is [[Distracted by the Sexy|easier explained]].

* [[Lovable Rogue]]: Ezio. Especially in his younger years, though he never completely loses the charm.

* [[Manipulative Bastard]]: Rodrigo Borgia.

* [[Marked Bullet]]: The bullets Ezio uses for his hidden gun are marked with the Assassin symbol.

* [[Precursors]]: {{spoiler|The plot reveals them to be a humanoid-like race that created humanity "in their own image" thousands of years in the past. The humanoids fought a war against the early humans, and were defeated thanks to the sheer number of humans there was. Both races however, were devastated by a apocalyptic event, but humans came up on top. Gods in all world religions are actually distorted historical truth about these humanoids.}}

* [[Press X to Not Die|Press X To Get Laid]]: Present, but much more merciful than most - the windows are not as tiny as normal and failure is not critical. They also tend to show up not just as a means of ensuring that the player is paying attention to not being dead, but to accomplish more mundane actions. Like taking off a young lady's dress. "Free Hand" indeed.

* [[Public Domain Artifact]]: A number of them, including the Shroud of Turin, Excalibur and the Papal Staff, are actually {{spoiler|Pieces of Eden.}}

* [[Punch Clock Villain]]: The game sometimes shows guards to be normal people whose only offence is being on the wrong side. Ezio notes this in the mission where you track down Jacopo de'Pazzi.

** If employing the bonus Altaïr costume, the second hidden blade is there without even being visible at all.

* [[Running Gag]]: [[Casanova Wannabe|Duccio de Luca]] recieving a beating from Ezio for [[Knight Templar Big Brother|badmouthing his sister]] in both ''II'' and ''Brotherhood''.

* [[Scenery Porn]]: The view of Italian Renaissance cities from viewpoints is to die for.

* [[Science Marches On]]: You can occasionally hear the doctors advocating medicines based on lead.

** The layouts of the city are also well researched and are practically identical to their real-life counterparts, albeit with changes that occurred afterward which are sometimes noted (for example, the Sistine Chapel doesn't look like its modern incarnation because you get there before it took on its iconic appearance).

** A few oddities still pop up (such as the ''schiavona'', which is indeed an Italian sword...from the 17th century), but many of the weapons are period-correct. Weaponry in the late 1400s was much the same as it was in the medieval period, just with a bit more ornamentation.

* [[Shrouded in Myth]]: La Volpe.

* [[Sigil Spam]]: Not only is the Assassin's logo prominently displayed on Ezio's belt and bracers, but there's a giant version of it etched in stone on Mario's villa. After you pay for repairs, it appears on the flags around town. An enormous version also appears in a couple of Assassin's Tombs. The Templars show more restraint, typically limiting themselves to a pendant or ring, though modern-day Abstergo has a thing for crosses in their architecture.

** [[The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard]]: Vieri de' Pazzi has the above in his first two appearances... but when it comes time to assassinate him, he's impossible to sneak up on and [[One-Hit Kill]], even if you're literally right behind him clinging to the topmost ledge of his tower; as soon as you climb up, he and his guards all react and and draw their swords. He also seems to preternaturally sense your location, making it impossible to double back to assassinate him from behind (as long as you can find a high enough spot with a line of sight to him, you can actually kill him with a pair of throwing knives without ever getting close).

* [[Suit-Up of Destiny]]: Ezio continues his legacy when he puts on his Assassin's Robes for the first time. He doesn't take them off for the next twenty years.

** Civilian [[NPC|NPCs]] can't swim. When you climb onto a boat and the owner leaps off in fear? He's ''committing suicide''.

* [[Surprisingly Easy Mini Quest]]: When Desmond relives Altaïr's memories without the Animus he gets into a place crawling with knights and almost nowhere to hide... except that said knights seem completely oblivious to his presence, even when he starts doing High Profile stuff.

* [[Surprisingly-Sudden Death]]: You're supposed to be doing this, as with the first. It's particularly visible in the [[Attract Mode]] video.

** With the tailing missions, this timer doesn't show up if you have Eagle Vision activated; in that case, the target leaves a trail for you to follow.

* [[Time Skip]]: As mentioned, the game leaps several years over the course of the story - Ezio is 40 by the endgame.

** "What. The. Fuck." [[Mind Screw|Well said, Desmond. Well said.]]

* [[Took a Level In Badass]]: By the end of the game, the previously wimpy Desmond has absorbed enough knowledge from the Animus to allow him to mow down an army of Templar soldiers without breaking a sweat.

** Ezio himself was an ordinary Italian youth at the start, but started levelling after the Bad Stuff went down. The Hidden Blade and fistfighting have also been much improved from ''1''.

* [[Training Montage]]: The combat tutorial is a playable montage, taking place over the course of a year as Ezio's uncle gives him Assassin training.

** In the "Battle of Forli" DLC, [[Crazy Awesome|Caterina Sforza]] launches into a long and ''very'' profane tirade at the Orsi brothers, including saying she'll [[Groin Attack|kick them in the manbits so hard]] [[Cut His Heart Out with a Spoon|that their testicles come out their noses]], threatening to [[Ass Shove|shove their heads up her vagina]], and responding to their threat to kill her children by saying "Go ahead! I have the instrument to make more right here!" and [[Panty Shot|flipping up her skirt]]. This '''really did''' happen, and the entire rant is something the real Caterina Sforza is recorded as having said.

* [[Turned Against Their Masters]]: {{spoiler|The early humans fought against the [[Precursors]] in prehistory. Because of humanity's sheer advantage in numbers (and the possibility they got a hold of some of their technology, as implied by a secret video obtained when you get all the glyphs), the Precursors were mostly overcome by them.}}

** The first half hour you spend in the game with Ezio's family makes you care about them. The snarky banter with his older brother and protectiveness of his younger siblings, as well as his relationship with his parents clearly demonstrate the loving upbringing he's had. Which makes it all the more [[Emotional Torque|wrenching]] when his brothers and father are hanged...and makes it all the more satisfying when you get your revenge.

** Feel sorry for the beggars who slump against the wall, holding their hands out, and are polite enough to not get in your face? Toss them some coins.

** The game goes [[There Is No Kill Like Overkill|even further]] than its predecessor [[Bloodier and Gorier|with the brutality]]. Some of Ezio's finishing attacks make one wonder why there isn't an announcer shouting [[Mortal Kombat|"FATALITY!"]] as he performs them.

** Countering an attack while holding a spear occasionally results in Ezio ''shoving the spear right into his enemies' spines.'' The sounds do not help.